First Peoplestells the story of how early Homo sapiens moved around the globe and became the dominant human species in the Americas, Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe. Where did they come from? How did they get there? What role did art, culture and technology play in their lives? Whom did they meet along the way? It used to be thought our ancestors kept a distance from other types of human. But now DNA reveals they mated with them and interbred. As a result, our species is a patchwork of modern and ancient humans – we are all hybrids.

“Scientific developments in genetics have dramatically changed the thinking of who we are as a species and where we came from,”, PBS’ Chief Programming Executive and General Manager of General Audience Programming Beth Hoppe said in a press release. “The story that First Peoples tells is vastly different from the story of our origins we knew just five or ten years ago. This cinematic, extraordinary series of films is up-to-the-minute science; the kind of program people expect from PBS.”